At Holy Name of Jesus PNCC in Schenectady, NY
Each year during the month of June, the PNCC observes Sacred Vocations month. During this month, the Church reminds all of her faithful of the urgent need to pray for the gift of vocations to the Holy Orders. The Church asks all of us to offer special prayers to bless our Church with new vocations.
The purpose of this month of Sacred Vocations is to petition God, the Author of every vocation, to bless our Church with new priests and deacons who are blessed with strong faith, broad vision and solid academic background. PLEASE, PRAY FOR AN INCREASE VOCATIONS TO THE HOLY PRIESTHOOD of the Polish National Catholic Church.
Those interested may contact me and I will provide you with the appropriate information.
When the faithful considers his numerous weaknesses and the grievous temptations which assail him, and recalls that Jesus invites and commands him to receive Holy Communion, he is filled with a holy confidence because he knows that he will receive the necessary help from this Celestial Food.
The frequent and daily reception of Holy Communion withdraws one from evil and comforts one in good, lt is food not only for the strong, but also the weak. It is food necessary to recuperate, conserve, increase and fortify the sanctity of our soul.
Knowing the necessity of preparing ourselves well to receive Holy Communion, let us ask Jesus to give us a lively faith, simplicity of heart, peace, zeal, fervor, confidence and especially humility and love of God. If we receive Holy Communion with these dispositions, our mind will be refreshed and illuminated, and our souls will be enriched with many graces and celestial favors.
Every day Jesus descends upon the altar at the words of the priest. All the faithful are, in a certain sense, priest, because they are members of the mystical Body of Christ and they are participators in offering, in union with the priest, with Jesus Christ and the Church,
the Holy Sacrifice of Mass. Let us unite ourselves to this offering and meditate on the necessity to bear our cross as Christ did.The best preparation for Holy Communion is to elect Jesus as King of our heart. That is, make Him absolute ruler of us and make ourselves obedient to Him in all and never refuse Him anything.
Today, I attended our Clergy Conference for the Central Diocese, and was invited by my Bishop to assist at the Holy Mass of Chrism. This Holy Mass is concelebrated with all the Priests of the Diocese signifying the unity of the Holy Priesthood.
Thanks to my sister for sending me these…
If you are planning a wedding there are certain cautions you should take as a member of the PNCC. If your intended is a member of the R.C. Church, and you plan to marry in the PNCC, your intended may face difficulties with their pastor or bishop.
The core problem is that the R.C. Church requires that your intended obtain a “dispensation from canonical form“
For years, the dialog between the PNCC and RC Churches has tried to resolve this issue (as well as the ability of PNCC members to stand as godparents in the RC Church). The PNCC has repeatedly requested that the Roman Church do away with this requirement. The main difference between the Apostolic Churches is that the sacrament in both the PNCC and Orthodox Churches
Also of note, if you plan to marry in the R.C. Church, some priests therein may deny the Eucharist to your intended and their family. You do need to cover this issue with them in advance. If they insist that they cannot give your intended’s parents or family communion, grab the nearest pew missal and point to the section in the back regarding admittance to the Eucharist. If that doesn’t help — well that priest (or deacon) isn’t following the rules, so you may want to seek marriage in your PNCC parish.
Both of these problems are roadblocks placed in the way of PNCC members who attempt to practice and hold true to their faith. It has also been noted that some R.C. pastors and bishops have made the process of obtaining a dispensation extremely cumbersome for those intending to marry a member of the PNCC. Of course this is an attempt to coerce members of the PNCC.
While we may not like something, we should respect the theology of the R.C. Church
So, take note and plan ahead. Talk to your intended’s pastor and attempt to obtain the “paperwork.” If you are marrying in his parish do cover the issue of Eucharistic reception because there have been well noted cases of grandma getting up to go to communion and being told to go away. That’s not the sort of sadness you need on your wedding day.
Several things I have heard recently have caused me to reflect more on what it means to be within the Holy Church. Recent news of the Roman-former Anglicans provision for unity touches on the issue. That said, I see two aspects to being within the Church:
Union within the Church and under the Church’s Bishops:
I recently read a post by the Rev. Canon Chandler Holder Jones at Philorthodox in Notes on Holy Orders wherein he says:
Most Continuing Churches follow the historically Augustinian-Western approach to this subject. I should deem the practice of some other Continuing Churches, the Polish National Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy to be Cyprianic in origin.
The whole issue of orders and belonging was covered extremely well, some time ago, in a post on the Cyprianic understanding of Holy Orders at Ad Orientem in Once a Priest , Always a Priest? (Thanks to the Young Fogey for the link to this). I recommend those interested in the theological difference between the Cyprianic and Augustinian understandings of Holy Orders read it.
To have Orders and to be a deacon, priest, or bishop requires that you be within the Church. Simply said, we have to be agnostic about what occurs outside the Church. Certainly we could use the cudgel of “without grace” for those outside the Church, as some online pundits do, but it is really an unnecessary exercise. All we can know for sure is that those within the Church, who have unity with its structure and Bishops, most particularly its priests, are only able to do what they say they are doing while they are in the Church under their Bishop. We are within the Church as long as we are grafted onto the Church — part of Her. If we are deposed and outside we might as well be cave men, satanists, or witch doctors — what we say is void of meaning and affect apart from the Church. Same words and actions as mimicry — no affect.
In the PNCC the issue arises from time to time in those who were formally of the clergy and who have been formally deposed. The case of Mr. Tomasz Rybka, a former priest in Poland is a case-in-point as are folks like Robert Mary Clement of the American Catholic Church or Ramzi Musallam of the Arabic Catholic Church (I won’t link to them, Google if you wish, the same vagante type stuff you see everywhere) and a few others. In the end all we can say is that whatever those outside the Church do, say, or suspect they do — regardless of the ritual used — is of no account.
The first aspect of being within the Church is an outward sign of unity, being part of the Church under the authority of its Bishops. That is a sure guarantee of the Holy Spirit’s outpouring for our lives and the life of the Church.
Unity of belief:
This one is touchier because it requires intellectual and spiritual honesty. You can pull-off of a total lack of belief in what the Church says and believes without any outward sign you are doing so. You can lie to yourself, to your wife, children, Bishop, and to God. To be within the Church however requires that you bring yourself into unity with what the Church believes; that you square your beliefs with the Church’s requirements
For those raised in the PNCC this is really no problem. They have had consistent and constant teaching in what the Church believes. That becomes part of them. Lifelong PNCC members have been catechized in accord with the beliefs of the Church. They don’t trip over things like the Pope (most don’t give the issue a second thought), the creed (proceeds from the Father), unheard of dogmas (Immaculate Conception, Assumption, Papal Infallibility), original sin, an understanding of Orders, scholasticism, phony homiletic constructs (every homily has to tie to the Eucharist, to a pro-life message, etc.), how the sacraments are “counted,” heaven, hell, the intermediate state, the Church’s infallibility (not one man’s), or differing Solemnities.
Former Roman Catholics, I am among them, had to trip and fall over these things. Getting there is not an overnight process and it definitely requires a conscious effort at stripping out belief systems pounded into our heads in R.C. schools, confraternity classes, and most particularly Roman seminary. It isn’t easy and takes time, but unless one is focused on being a member of, priest or deacon in, the PNCC you cheat yourself and all the members of the Church. More than that, I believe that you put yourself outside the Church in being less than faithful to It.
The PNCC welcomes everyone with open arms and speaks ill of no one who finds they must follow Jesus in another way, but if you wish to stay — if you wish to be honest with yourself and the Holy Church – with the Holy Spirit — you must purpose yourself to learn about, believe, and profess what the Church professes.
It is a huge fallacy to compare the PNCC to the Roman Church and to say: ‘We are the same except…” I used to do that. I don’t anymore. Former R.C. members of the Church carry in a lifetime of learned beliefs and in many ways they do not match with the PNCC. Can a person transition? Absolutely! I’ve done it and I’ve seen wonderful former Roman Catholics, including priests, who have committed to the honesty that change requires.
For those considering the PNCC, know that through the process of learning, which takes time and patience, you find the beauty and joy lifelong PNCC members know. You can bring yourself into unity of belief. PNCC members are open to teaching you about the PNCC’s beliefs, its prayers, its Solemnities, and Our way of life
Bringing it together:
What is necessary is honesty on entering the Church. Honestly know that we are not Roman nor a subset of anyone else. Know that we ascribe to no dogmas
From the Q&A’s at BustedHalo: Can I receive communion as a Catholic in a —high Anglican— church if they hold the same beliefs about the Eucharist that Catholic do?
Question: I went to a —high Anglican— service and was told that they believe the same thing about the Eucharist as we do. Is it OK therefore for me to receive communion here as a Catholic and if not, why does the church say that I shouldn’t receive here?
The Anglican and Catholic International Dialogue Commission, in a 1981 document entitled The Final Report, claimed in the sections relating to the Eucharist —to have attained a substantial agreement on eucharistic faith.— This, however, does not resolve the question of intercommunion. The reason is that, while both churches may have a common understanding of what is happening at the Eucharist, the significance they attribute to sharing in the Eucharist together is different.
For the national churches that make up the world-wide Anglican Communion, sharing holy communion with members of other denominations is a way of growing together in unity. For the Catholic Church, sharing in eucharistic communion = ecclesial communion. —Ecclesial— means —church.— So communion in this sense takes on an expression of church unity. In what does ecclesial communion consist? Vatican II’s document Constitution on the Church sees four bonds: professed faith, sacraments, ecclesiastical government, and fellowship.
As Anglicans and Catholics are still working out issues relating to authority (ecclesiastical government), the mutual recognition of ministry (sacraments), and our fellowship is sporadic at best, from the Catholic Church’s point of view, it’s not yet —honest— for us to invoke together the consummate sign of unity in faith and life.
That said, the Catholic Church’s Directory for the Application of Principles and Norms Concerning Ecumenism, —recognizes that in certain circumstances, by way of exception and under certain conditions, access to these sacraments (eucharist, penance, anointing of the sick) may be permitted or even commended for Christians of other churches and ecclesial communities— (129)… —The conditions under which a Catholic minister may administer these sacraments . . . are that the person be unable to have recourse for the sacrament desired to a minister of his or her own church…, ask for the sacrament of his or her own initiative, manifest Catholic faith in this sacrament, and be properly disposed— (131).
You will not fail to notice here, I’m sure, that the situation envisioned is one in which a member of another church is present at the Catholic eucharist and wishes to receive communion, and not vice versa. In situations of pastoral need, Catholics have the approval of their own Church to receive the eucharist only in the Polish National Catholic Church, the Syrian Church, and in Orthodox Church, though the latter has not given a corresponding approval so the door is really not open there…
I am including this simply for the reference to the PNCC. The answer leaves off much on the issues that now separate Anglicans/Episcopalians of whatever stripe from the wider Catholic Church. Interestingly, the questioner certainly perceived the lex orandi of the parish he attended as equal to the lex credendi. This common worshiper viewpoint goes right to the heart of recapturing proper liturgy in the Roman Church. He or she likely saw the outward prayer of that particular Parish as more Catholic than thou.
The Blessing of Automobiles at Holy Ghost Parish in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania:
A wedding at St. Adalbert’s in Dickson City, Pennsylvania. Note the videos from the wedding at the photographer, Thomas Kaczmarek’s website – and the absolutely gorgeous interior of St. Adalbert’s. See the Nuptial Holy Mass ad orientem as celebrated by Prime Bishop Emeritus John F. Swantek.
Corpus Christi as celebrated by the New York —“ New Jersey Seniorate in the Parish of St. Peter and Paul, Passaic, New Jersey:
Solemn Vespers and the Installation of the Rev. Andrzej Koterba as Pastor of St. Francis Parish in East Meadow, New York.
Pentecost at Transfiguration Parish in Wallington, New Jersey:
First Holy Communion at St. Valentine’s in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
From Beliefnet: More on the Lectionary
It may seem a parochial concern, but the comments on the Revised Common Lectionary post last week have been very intriguing. I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the comments of two members of the Consultation on Common Texts, especially. That’s the ecumenical group that puts together the RCL…
When ensues is a wonderful discussion on the RCL. The PNCC is part of the CCT and is represented at its meetings.